The invention relates to an arrangement for holding and laying a multiplicity of jointly guided cables in an installation space of a motor vehicle, the cables being laid along a predetermined line having at least one curvature, and so as to cover a mounting space at least partially and being fixed releasably along this line.
An arrangement of the generic type is described in German Patent Document DE 34 02 744 Cl, according to which the cables are guided jointly in a cable duct above a mounting space. This cable duct is fixed firmly in its position and thus cannot be removed in order to reach the mounting space lying below it.
In addition, it is in principle known in motor vehicles that the cables can be united to form a cable harness. This cable harness is then attached at appropriate points using cable tapes. The necessity arises of removing the cable harness in order to be able to carry out mounting operations on a mounting space situated under this cable harness. For this purpose, the cable tapes of the cable harness must be released to enable the cable harness to be removed completely above the mounting space. If this cable harness comprises a plurality of cables, it has such a flexural strength that it can only be turned upon itself with difficulty, i.e. the cable harness must be pulled away with a great expenditure of force.
In this arrangement, disadvantages result such that the great expenditure of force necessary to remove the cable harness can lead to breaking of individual cables. In addition, the cable harness is laid along as direct a path as possible, as a result of which no space for access to a mounting space lying below the cable harness can be gained upon twisting the cable harness.
It is an object of the invention to design an arrangement for holding and laying a multiplicity of jointly guided cables in an installation space of a motor vehicle in such a way that easy access is possible to a mounting space lying below the cables, the cables being moved out of their normal position without the necessity to pull the cables with a great expenditure of force.
This object is achieved according to the invention in an arrangement of the generic type for holding and laying a multiplicity of jointly guided cables in an installation space of a motor vehicle, wherein the cables are mounted at the end points of the predetermined line so as to be swivellably movable, freeing the mounting space lying below them.
Further advantages of the invention compared to the known prior art are obtained if the cables are guided in a cable duct. In this case, it is not necessary first of all to release a plurality of cable tapes in order to remove the cable harness. The cables are then removed by the cable duct being released from its locking and pivoted away.
In the arrangement according to the invention, the cables are preferably guided on a curved line. The cables are mounted in a swivellably movable fashion at the two end points of the curved line. This swivellably movable mounting can, for example, be achieved by the cables having a predetermined bending point at the two end points of the curved line. In this case, the cables can be secured at the end points of the curved line in exactly the same way as in the course of the curved line.
The cables can be guided as a cable harness, i.e. the cables can be intertwined. As a result, a cable harness has a very great flexural strength. In the arrangement according to preferred embodiments of the invention, the intertwining of the cables is therefore in an advantageous manner resolved in the vicinity of two end points of the curved line in order in this way to reduce the flexural strength of the cable harness at these points. It is thus possible then to twist the cable harness about these two end points with a particularly low expenditure of force, the cable harness having a predetermined bending point at these two end points and otherwise essentially retaining its shape.
In a particularly advantageous manner according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the cables are guided in a cable duct. Even then, the cables are in certain circumstances twisted to form a cable harness, in which case this twisting should be resolved in the vicinity of the end points, as already described above. This cable duct preferably likewise has a predetermined bending point at the end points of the curved line. This predetermined bending point of the cable duct can be achieved by the course of the cable duct being interrupted at the end points of the curved line and being connected by means of hinges according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention. These hinges can here be designed in such a way that, when the cables are deflected out of their normal position, they build up a restoring force of the cables into their normal position. Alternatively, the cable duct can be manufactured from a material which permits bending about the end points of the curved line. In this case, a restoring force of the cables into their normal position arises due to the torsion of the material of the cable duct when the cables are deflected out of their normal position.
This cable duct can furthermore be closed by a cover, which is secured on the cable duct in a manner known per se. This closure of the cable duct can also be provided by a closure device, which closes off the engine compartment, resting on the cable duct in such a way that this closure device simultaneously closes off the cable duct.
The cables must be secured in their normal position along the curved line. If the cables are twisted to form a cable harness, this cable harness can be secured in a manner known per se, for example by cable tapes 20 (see figure). If a cable duct is used, this cable duct can be secured, for example, by self-locking spring clips or self-adhesive strips. If the closure device of the engine compartment simultaneously serves as closure of the cable duct, the cable duct can be pressed against an installation of the engine compartment by the closure device of the engine compartment in such a way that fixing of the cable duct in the normal position is ensured.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.